The Demon Rides Again
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: We all have our own demons. We grapple with them, wrestle with our deepest, darkest desires in the depths of our souls, tell ourselves to do the right thing. But some demons are stronger than others. These demons are not meant to see the light of day, never meant to know the touch of a loved one. He was such a demon and now...he rides again. Dark Narutoxharem!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well my friends took me out (doped up on pain pills) to watch the latest Ghost Rider movie! And I have to say, despite being hiped up on pain ills after my surgery...I was very pleased with Nicolas Cage! He gave a stand up performance worthy of the title! But something nagged at me a bit. Just how many riders have there been in the past? We know Johnny Blaze is the wielder of the Rider's Curse in the modern era, but as we already know, there had been a few others before him. Slade for one. But who held it before even them? Who was to say that there was never more than one rider? Long ago, far back into the past...t****hat was how this idea came to be.**

_My soul is ash. My heart is flame. To me, all the souls came._

_~The Rider._

**Rider**

Find him.

Trap him.

Compel him to reveal the location of Kumogakure's stolen treasures and get the fuck home.

Those were their objectives.

Of course, Uzumaki Naruto's objectives directly opposed theirs.

They were tasked with finding a man, an ex-jounin, who had a remarkable knack for dissapearing. That, and slaughtering all those who came within six feet of him. They had balked at the prospect of hunting this man down, but orders were orders, and Raikage-sama would not tolerate anything short of success. This man, had already stolen many things from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, but today, he had gone too far. He'd kidnapped their kunoichi from within their walls. Nii Yugito. Karui. _Samui_ was only his most recent victim, having mysteriously vanished from her apartment in the dead of night.

The culprit?

Uzumaki Naruto.

Kumo knew it had to be his doing. Only the infamous blond prankster-turned-murderer had the skills necesary to infiltrate their village, find what he wanted, and subsuquently disappear without a trace. Always without a trace. But this time, he hadn't. He'd left evidence. A trail, one they continued to follow, even now, into the darkness of night. Their eyes narrowed and their senses on full alert, the three squads silently ghosted across the treetops, silently bounding from bough to bough to another bough as they followed a streak of brightness in the dark.

_Fire._

Their only clue was a smoldering track of flame, leading out of the village. It went on for miles, forcing the extraction team to wade through forest and swamps in search of it, the owner of this mysterious trail of fire. It was not elemental in origin; because it continued to burn despite the rain's best efforts to stamp it out. The distant sound, of some kind of motor, cut off abruptly in the distance, winking out of existence.

Now, after hours of travel, they'd tracked Uzumaki Naruto to an abandoned warehouse and surrounded it. A single light shone within, pursued by the sound of voices. Finally, they'd found him. They had him cornered. Or so they thought. The three squads moved in as one, blocking all points of entry and exit. And then they breached the perimeter.

"Uzumaki Naruto, formerly of the Leaf!" One of the shinobi declared, bursting through the door, "For the crime of kidnapping our women, you are under arrest!"

There was a silence.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. Smash and grab and get the hell out before he found them. It was supposed to have been simple. Only it wasn't. Now, they realized, their women hadn't been kidnapped. They'd come willingly. The three women were naked in bed, draping themselves around Uzumaki Naruto, catering to his "needs" in ways that true men could only dream of. And the ungrateful bastard was still wearing clothes, to boot!

"Shit." Yugito hissed, her gaze flickering fearfully to her fellow kunoichi. "Now they've gone and done it."

"Not cool." Samui shook her head.

"Daaaaaaaamn." Kauri whined, jolting herself off the bed and snagging her clothes in one swift movement. "Now we won't be able to do this again for at least a week." Slowly she risked a glance back at the bedridden blond. Was that a hint of fear in her amber eyes as he reached for his cane?

He gave them a slow, cool blink, his jaw locking. Then he growled. It was a low, strange growl that. It wasn't human. He rose from the bed, propping himself up on his elbows as the three kunoich did their best to distance themselves from him. Were they captives after all? The extraction squad paused, torn between fight or flight. Their mission was meant for stealth only; they'd never intended to face the infamous ladykiller himself.

Naruto spoke; his words were little more than a whisper, dark and haunted.

_"Leave."_ The words were pained, like a man in agony. _"Please."_

The three kunoich complied, grabbing their garments and bolting for the door. The extraction team was too stuned to follow.

The shinobi from Kumo warily glanced at one another. This man was their target? He didn't look a thing like a shinobi. The man had sandy blond hair, flecked with crimson. He looked to be about 5' 10'' tall. He wore a black trench coat, black gloves, and black boots. In his hands he held a cane, half as tall as he was, topped with a crystal skull. Those eyes gleamed like coals in the darkness, their master smoking amidst the rain. But what held their interest was his eyes. As shinobi, they'd seen eyes that held Hell in them before, and this man had the same eyes. The eyes of a demon. Of wrath incarnate.

An overpowering sensation of pressure bore down upon them like an invisible hand. They sensed something enormous nearby, silent in the dark, like a giant passing within arms reach. A gravid deadly prescence too huge to grant them notice. They glanced to Naruto and saw him smile, smile as his fingertips pressed against his temples. A droplet of blood fell from his nose and he gasped, like a man starved for breath.

_"He's scratching at the door...he's scratching at...the...door...!"_

One of the members of the extraction squad, a chunin who'd barely passed his exam, took a step backward. It was a mistake. The moment he moved, Naruto snickered. Eyes fixated upon him. Was he amused? Did he find this to be funny? If so, why was he laughing? It was almost as if...as if...

**_"He's here!"_**

Naruto threw his head back and began to laugh.

And as he laughed, he transformed.

Flames sprouted from his skin, flaying at his flesh. Spikes sprouted from his jacket, the leather boiling beneath the heat. Still laughing, he clutched at his face, cackling as if it were somehow funny; as if he actually enjoyed the pain.

Someone was screaming, a terrible scream compounded a hundred times by the orange curtain that ripped his human form asunder, shaking every hall and tunnel of the warehouse in which they'd so recently taken refuge. Naruto laughed and flung his arms out. As they passed in front of him, they saw that his skin had totally disappeared beneath the all-absorbing wriggling blackness. Nor did the flames stop at the bounds of his body. They lashed out from his arms_-out farther and farther, like great wings-_and came down on either side, barely registering the ninja's last desperate attacks.

Then he was airborne, the base upon which he had spent so many months, now, receding to a little black speck in the distance. He hung there for a moment, skimming the surface of the earth. Savoring the air currents, the salty spray of the ocean upon his face, and the thin line that separated him between life and death. He roared, gave a great gusty flap of those wings, and then he was upon them.

"Attack!" A Kumo Jounin screamed. "All units, attack!"

The flaming skeleton rounded on them, batting aside their kunai with a contemtuous flick of its chain. The deadly flain found the neck of a jounin and gave a sharp twist. That man crumpled, his neck broken. And then he was in motion again, his wings spread wide as they came for him.

He felt them crunch beneath those mighty wings like beetles popping under his boot. Their bodies broke like shells and the softness within was ground to gory smears on the decks below. And throughout it all, not a single drop of blood spattered upon him. Any moisture that dared near this demonic angel of death simple evaporated. He was truly death incarnate; come to reclaim what was lost; come to deliver judgement.

Twins swords, smoking black blades, veritable bars of black fire, slid from his hands. He made them glow, wreathed in blue flames. He slashed with the left blade. It didn't so much as cut as devour. There was barely any resistance as the blade passed through noseguard, nose, chin, tabard, gambeson, and stomach. A man looked down at the sight, then touched his split face where blood gushed. He screamed, and his entrails spurted out.

Another bolted, shrieking.

_"Murderer!" _The chunin's stomach opened, but by then Naruto had moved on to his next victim.

_"Raper!"_ Naruto yelled. He slid the foremost of his swords through the man's loins. It would be a bad death. Three more died before anyone attacked him. He danced past a spear and then lopped off it's head, followed soon therafter by that of its owner. In minutes, the remaining few were in utter pandemonium. Men screamed, shouting obscene obscenities, gibbering about a monster, a demon, a flaming phantasm.

_"Torturer!"_ This time the sword appeared only as it jutted out of the shinobi's back. The man was lifted on the sword and flung headlong into the side of an iron cauldron. He jerked, his flesh sizzling on the coals, but he did not roll away. His festering remains burned to ashes and left nothing behind but dust. Such was the fate of all who touched it; the dreaded flames of this hellish creature.

_"Defiler!" _Crescents of biceps and knotted shoulder muscles and glowing eyes were all that appeared, followed by a whoosh of flame as a spinning sword came alight. A slaver toppled to the ground. By the time his head was free of his body, Naruto was already gone, and onto the next. No one moved any longer. It was impossible. This was a ghoul, an apparition that could not be harmed. Not by blade nor bullet nor fist.

Nothing could touch this divine demon of death.

_"Unclean! Unclean!"_ The demonic angel screamed, its whole figure glowing, burning blue. It killed left and right. Wreathed in blue flames, he descended upon the shinobi with gusto, carving a bloody swathe of destruction wherever he went. The flames spread with every step, leaping from one ninja to the next, sparing none. Within minutes instead of hours, all but one lay dead at his feet.

A mistake that was about to be rectified.

"S-Stay away from me!"

The flaming apparition grinned, a strange, skeletal grimace, directing a sketal finger toward the last shinobi.

_"You...**guilty."**_

The Jounin, a hardened veteran of twelve years, promptly shat himself. In all his years, he had never seen anything like this...this...abomination! It came for him now, with its hollowed out eyes and its voice full of malice. It came after him, dauntless in its stride as he clamored up and against the wall. The Jounin knew he could flee and resort to an alternate form of attack, but his mind was inexplicably filled with fear as he gazed into the hate-filled eyes of his opponent.

The demon dropped its flaming blades and lurched forward, seizing the man by his nape. It hoisted him high, ripping him off the ground as the world burned around them. Its eyes bored into him its gaze uncaring, unwavering. Bony figgers dug into the Jounin's jacket and set it ablaze, scalding his skin. The jounin screamed. The flaming apparition tightened its grip and seared its fingers into his flesh.

_"Look into my eyes,"_ The creature growled. _"You, whose soul is stained by the blood of the innocent." _He pinnioned the Jounin with a gaze. Unable to look away, unable to try, unable to even blink, the man cried out. All his previous and past experiences as a shinobi, all his sins commited in the service to the Raikage, flashed through his eyes. All of it was laid bare before the eyes of the Rider. The tiniest of lies. The most sinister of stabbings. Every crime, every attrocity, was seared into the man's soul.

**_"Feel their pain."_**

The last thing the Jounin saw was those eyes.

Those terrible, burning eyes...

**A/N: Like I said, Dark Naruto! Very dark! Dangerously so! This is exactly what happens when you trade one demon for another! Yes, the pairing is dominant and harem, and oh so very, very sexy! Beware the Penanace Stare, all ye sinners! I tried to make it as terrifying as possible, so I sincerely hope you enjoyed the smackdown! Now, my pain is coming back agin-owowowow!-so I'm going to sign off for a bit and sleep for the rest of the day! Hopefully my inbox will be flooded with reviews by the time I wake up, LOL!**

**R&R! =D**


	2. Recollection

**A/N: Aaaaaand here we go! Got the Ghost Rider Soundtrack blaring in my ears while I'm writing this, and quite frankly, I'm amazed at how well the chapter flowed. I'm on fire! Mwahahaha! Okay, evil rant over. In this chapter we'll delve into Naruto's past, discovering how and WHY he became the Ghost Rider. Someone suggested an idea via review, so I decided to run with it! Thanks for a awesome input! Has Naruto exchanged one demon for another? We'll have to wait and see...**

**Sorry if its short!**

**That being said ****I've already backed this up in advance, so lets get started!**

_"We all have our own demons to deal with."_

_~Yugito Nii._

**Recollection**

The rider was starving. Famished, really. Even as he devoured the souls of the assault team; drinking in every last drop of essence from the Kumogakure shinobi, it was not enough. Condemning the souls of the sinners to the depths of hell only slaked his thirst. He'd been asleep for so long now. Two years. Two years of painful, empty nothingness. Now he was starving. Famished. All he knew was the dull ache in the pit of his stomach and the insatiable need to feed. All he felt was the hunger. So...very...

**"Hungry...**

The blackened skull turned, dead, empty pits basking in orange/blue flames, _basking_ in unholy radiance. Idly, regarding his surroundings. He counted out his victims. One. Two. Three. Four. Where was the fifth? A slow cursory glance revealed nothing but the bed and the wall, both charred to a crisp in the wake of his transformation. A flickering thought danced at the corners of his ravaged mind. Where had the woman gone? Not _the _women, his concubines, but the woman in charge of his attackers. She was not here. All that remained _here _where dust and echoes. Gone, the riderr mused. Elsewhere. He sniffed, lifting his gaze withing the curtain of flame, a hunter seeking an invisible trail.

_North._

Hissing, the rider banished the burning blades from his hands with a flick of the wrist, reaching instead for the length of steel chain coiled about his jacket. He lashed out with it, birfurcating the door to the wareshouse in which he'd taken refuge. He strode forward, uncaring for the broken bodies as they crunched beneath his heel. He cared not for the dead and the dying. There was only the hunt. Pressing two skeletal fingers against his teeth the rider whistled, summoning his steed.

Somewhere within the deepest, darkest depths of the forest, an engine answered in kind.

With a screech of steel, the motorcycle leveled out, grinding to a halt before its master. The rider swung a leg over, then the other, revving the engine. It burst to life with a throaty roar, gushing fire and brimstone. He almost smiled as he sat astrile his mount. Well, as much as his skeletal grin could permit. Such technology should not exist in this era but_ he was the rider._ It was his to command. Just as every damned soul was his to hunt, his to collect. Every sinner, all the guilty. His.

_Mine._

The Rider's mind flickered once more, a tiny candle caught in the wind. Dimly, he reflected on the first time he'd rode. When he'd first made the deal with a man; a deal to save a life, to right a wrong. A contract signed in blood, and by blood undone. He'd been but a boy when he first made the deal, never once suspecting the horror of what he would unleash. He'd never known. Naive and foolish, he'd let himself be convinced. Allowed himself to be persuaded. He'd wrote his name in blood for a good reason, hadn't he? All for her. Uchiha Mikoto. She was like a mother to him. A real mother. Loving and caring and oh-so-very-kind. She'd been a rock to him, a place of sanctuary amidst a sea of never ending despair.

Despite the harsh words of her husband, despite the brutal abuse at the hands of the other clans, she always had a meal laid for him. A warm bed. A place to stay. Always. _Ah _but her health was a frail, fickle thing. She was already failing by the time he'd entered the academy. By the time he turned seven, Naruto began to fear the worst. And then a stranger appeared. Wreathed in shadow; clad in a trenchcoat, wielding a crystal cane, he came with good tidings. He promised to heal her, to restore her, the only woman_-the only person-_who'd ever gave a damn about Naruto.

There was just one problem. He needed Naruto's soul. At first the boy balked at the prospect. His soul? He couldn't just give that away! Certainly not to this man! But what was his soul compared to the only family he'd ever had? The only person who told him he was special; that he had a purose, a destiny? The only who ever told him: _I love you_. With this in mind, Uzumaki Naruto sold his soul to the man without so much as a second thought, not even a backward glance.

He just wanted Mikoto to get better. And she did. The very next day her health was restored! Good as new! It was a miracle! He saw no need to tell her about the deal; if only out of fear of what she'd think of him. That was a happy day for Uzumaki Naruto indeed.

But the man lied. He did not tell Naruto of this curse of this insatiable hunger that only the wicked could satisfy. He did not tell Naruto his actions would cause his best friend's brother to lose his mind; to massacre the whole of his clan. Save the traitor himself, only his mother and younger brother remained. They were all that was left of the once great Uchiha Clan. Mikoto remained on life support to this very day, traumitized by the loss of her husband, and her clan. And her son, consumed with thoughts of revenge for himself, for family, paid no heed to Naruto's feeble warnings. He'd left the village for revenge. Beaten Naruto within an inch of his life at the Valley of End, all in his pursuit of power.

The retrieval mission ended in failure, and his defeat

It was then, as he lay there, soaked by the rain, covered in his own blood, that the man reappeared and properly introduced himself. His name was Mephisto. Only then did Naruto realize his mistake. He'd made a deal with the devil. And for what? Nothing. Nothing but misery. As a parting gift, Mephisto tore the Kyuubi from his stomach and replaced it with something worse. _Much worse._ They words rang through his head to this day clear as a clarion bell. Tormenting him. Haunting him.

_"It's time you fufilled your end of the deal, my boy."_ Mephisto smiled, a hideous streak of yellow in the dark, ignorant of his pained cries. _"This world of yours is rotten. Filled with wicked souls. Collect them for me. You do this for me, and she lives. You don't," _He executed a chopping motion with his free hand, across the throat._ "She'll die." _He'd blacked out then, blotting out the pain as fire consumed his flesh. Several days later he'd find himself in the hospital, his world forever changed. Nearly everyone, nay everything he saw, every being that drew breath, was filled with sin.

The Rider surfaced shortly thereafter, and Haruno Sakura was his very first victim.

He remembered his fingers around her throat, the urge to kill, the compulsion, to strong to resist. Her fist, striking feeble at his chest. Her body, vaporizing beneath his skeletal fingertips, turning to skeletal ash. Nearly mad with rage, the rider recalled killing and killing and killing again, murdering dozens of shinobi as they fled from him. He might have slain them all, were it not for the girl. Her pale, lavender eyes, striking him like an indefatigable blow. She was the purest soul he'd ever seen. Her heart was white as snow. Not a single sin could be seen in those eyes. She didn't run away from him like the others. She didn't fear him. She'd stood her groung, unhesitant, unflinching, the slightest of quivers upon her lips.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" she'd whispered, eyes wide, aghast at the burning beast befor her. "Is that you?"

The Rider fled at her words, never to return.

Naruto barely thought of that girl anymore but the rider, _he_ remembered.

He wanted to see her again.

Now, Uzumaki Naruto lived for vengeance of his own, attacking the wicked and impure of heart on sight. If he continued to kill, he was damned. If he stopped killing, he was doomed. More than once he had tried to end it; to send himself into oblivion. Each time, the Rider rose to the surface, denying him his freedom. His release. So he'd learned to live for other things. For other people. He killed the wicked and spared the innocent. He was the Ghost Rider-ironic, considering his fear of all things spectral-and wherever the innocent cried out, wherever the wicked fled, he would be there. So long as he continued to hunt the wicked Mikoto would continue to live. No more, no less.

_There!_

The Rider dismounted his bike suddenly, sensing his quarry nearby. Metal squealed in protest at the lack of its master, hurtling into the bushes. He paid it no heed, hurling his chain in mid-leap. The burning metal coiled around a nearby bough, carrying him into the branches with a harsh rattling of chain. The woman flung herself backwards, a strangled scream leaving her lips but to no avail. He saw her face through the baleful light of his flame, her grey locks glimmering in the evening light. His jaw creaked apart, bone unlocking to release a single word, a feverish, desperate gasp.

**"Hungry...**

The nameless woman shrieked in fear, fruitlessly kicking at his chest. Had his hunger been any less, the Rider might've found this amusing. As it was, her feeble effort only earned a growl of adulation. His jaw_-still open-_yawned wide with a harsh click, stretching wider still to accomodate her mouth, and the essence flowing out of it. And then it was done. _Wait._ Three more, beneath him! The Rider inclined its head, slowly surveying the newcomers; the three women standing below his tree. He recognized two of them, one with flaxxen blond hair, the other dark-skinned, ragged red hair lofting around her face. A touch of desire stirred within him, and a touch of hunger at the sight of the third.

"Oi!" One of them, the redhead, called up to him. "Naruto! Are you-

He cast aside the woman's corpse, and her words trailed off into a squeal of disbelief.

_"Kami!"_

With a small hiss, he dropped from the tree, landing firmly on legs forged of hellfire and black fabric. As one, the women shrank back from him. The Rider didn't care. The hunger prevailed. He felt the fire, felt their fear and felt only the need to sate the burning in his chest. He cocked his head aside, wondering which to devour first.

"Gety away from him!" One of the blonde's_-Yugito?-_rasped out. "He's not in control!"

The Rider wasn't listening. His gaze fixated on the third, the blond woman bearing a generous bosom. He would devour her first. He took a step towards her.

**"More...**

_"Stop!"_

The Rider spun around, focusing on the redhead.

Gasping, fighting to keep from falling to one knee, from bowing before this terrible creature, Samui forced herself to lift her gaze, to meet the empty hollows of his eyes. The Rider stepped forward, flame swirling round him. He paused, regarding each witness in turn, and then walked towards Karui. She stood her ground, fists balling at her side. A muscle jumped in her jaw, fear shone clear in her eyes, but she_ did not back down._ The image provoked a memory in his host's mind, a sudden surge of indignation, of anger.

_'Give me back my body, you freak!'_

The rider growled. No! Never! He needed to feed! He would not be denied! But the second self was struggling within now. Actively resisting. The Rider staggered forward, bringing himself one step closer to his prey. The fear flared across her face for another instant. Then she slapped him. The Rider's head jerked backward, his teeth clicking together harshly. She recoiled with a pained yelp, the fires singing her fingers. The Rider roared his fury, jerked his gaze down, glaring at the woman who dared to strike him. Her fear was gone now, he saw, replaced by shock and a touch of sorrow.

"Naruto-kun," the redhead-Karui!-spoke softly, a glimmer of endearment clinging to her words. "Don't you remember me?" Strange. This one was supposed to be loud. Defiant. Angry, even. He saw none of this when he looked at her. He winced now, as a caramel colored hand caressed his cheek, pushing past the fading flames. Tears bordered at the edge of her lids, held back by sheer willpower. She was saddened by him. At this thought, the fire dimmed. Sputtered. Blue swallowed orange, and he felt_...dismay?_

**"Monster."** He murmurred aloud, shame momentarily overtaking the hunger. He turned away from her, warring with himself. Hunger clashed with Hate and Hate wrestled with Clarity. With every fiber of his being, he fought the urge to devour this woman. Why did the sight of this woman feel him with shame? She too, bore sins upon her soul, yet he was loathe to take her, to consume her essence. Embarassed, even. But why? He couldn't remember, he wanted to, but he couldn't; knowing only that he'd wronged her somewhow.

**"Monster."** He repeated, lowering his gaze in agony.

"No, no." The redheaded woman soothed, bringing his face back to hers, the soft flame leaving her hand unharmed. "Not a monster. _Naruto-kun."_ As if the word were linchpin, The Rider felt himself unravel. Shuddering and spasming, he doubled over, pain flaring across his every feature. Sensation returned to his form in a rush, strangling him, as he'd strangled so many victims. He wanted to scream, but all that emerged was a sickly hiss of red hot agony. It was hot. Hot hot hot hot _so very hot..._

And then the rider coughed.

Flesh grew over blackened bone, staunching flame, giving way to blood. Skeletal fingers clenched at his scalp, bleeding lips inching back to expose pearly white teeth. The Rider felt his self receding, being replaced by a righteous fury, belonging to that of his host. Within seconds he found himself quashed, his hunger buried beneath layer upon layer of raw emotion. With his last sentient thought_-for now-_the Rider began to understand. The host body cared for these woman. He cared for them dearly. More than the Rider cared for the girl he'd spared. His last sight was that of his host sweeping the redhead into his arms, and attacking her with his lips in a flurry of movement and passion. Then...

...nothing.

Uzumaki Naruto grinned as he broke the kiss, leaving his partner swooning. His body hurt like hell, and it was all he could do to stand, but somehow with her in his arms, he didn't so much mind the later. Still he waited until her eyes finished glazing over before daring to venture the obvious question.

"Miss me, babe?"

Eyes narrowed, Karui slapped him. Again.

"Miss you!" She hissed blackly, "You almost killed me, you...you...baka! Naruto no baka!" The blond smiled, a pained smile as he skipped backwards, easily evading the blow. Yes, he'd come close to consuming her. So very close. Closer than ever before. Had he been anyone else, he would've sent her away by now. Yugtio and Samui, too. But Uzumaki Naruto was nothing if not persistent. He'd come to care for her over the past year, just as he had for Samui and his fellow jinchuuriki, Yugito. He would control this curse. He would not hurt those precious to him.

Even when they were trying to hurt him.

"Almost, but not quite." Naruto corrected, catching a punch, dragging her forward. "Besides, I've never hurt my precious Karui-chan and I don't intend to start now!" Before the latter could protest, Naruto kissed her for a second time, stiffling all protest. His lips locked against hers, his remaining arm seeking out the curve of her waist, pulling her closer still. Whatever meager fury Karui might've for him felt evaporated on the spot, her knees all but buckling beneath his tender ministrations, her eyes glazing over as he deepened the kiss.

"Should we interrupt?" Samui ventured as the blushing redhead all but melted into the blonde's arms. Yugito's eye twitched. While she understood Naruto's...condition, that didn't make it any easier to predict the blond and his strange behavior. He'd nearly killed Karui seconds before; now he was holding her, kissing her, embracing the redhead as though the world would end should he ever release her. And it was actually making her _jealous,_ though the former kunoichi would never actually admit it.

_Honestly, I'll never understand him..._

Her memories of the blond were much like this: at times he was a tortured soul, struggling to forget his past, his curse, by immersing himself in pleasurable activities. At others, he was a stone cold killer, hellbent on an almost hellish quest to rid the world of wicked souls for the sake of saving his foster mother. She couldn't count the times he'd nearly killed her, or she him. The times they'd bickered, brawled, made love, it was all just one big blur to her after he'd wrested her from the hands of Akatsuki. He'd told her all his secrets. His past was an open book to her, as was hers to his. She knew his goals what he planned to do, just how dangerous it was for the both of them. He could snap turn on her at any given moment, the Rider within deeming her sins to be too one many, and she wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.

His very prescence was a danger to her. She wouldn't have it any other way...

_...but she certainly didn't enjoy sharing her mate!_

"I'm going to join them." Samui's voice intruded on her brooding.

"Huh?"

"Ah...

Yugito twitched as she saw the pair tearing through articles of clothing like they were out of style. Honestly, men! And Samui was no better! How on earth could she just walk over there and_...oh my._ If either blond felt the jinchuuriki's surge of killer intent, then they were making every effort to ignore her. Behind Yugito's pale skin, the slow flushing of her face looked almost like a growing forest fire, and she seemed literally unable to catch her breath. Eventually desire won out.

She stormed over to them, shedding her sandals and hitiate, little bits of clothing as she went.

"Oh, I'll interrupt him alright...

That night, the trio made up for lost time.

**A/N: Hahahaha! This fic is now continued as well! Hope you enjoyed it! Naruto, you lucky/unlucky bastard you! The Elemental Nations are in for some serious hurt (and potential kidnapping where certain heroine's are concerned) Soooo look forward to it, everyone! The world is gonna be turned upside down, ya know! See you next chappy! One can only wonder if our darling little Fu is really actually dead by now, or if she's somehow secretly alive...hehehe...in _this_ story XD**

**Ja ne,**

**Nz.**

**R&R! =D**


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